LED bulbs distributed as UJALA scheme kicks off in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Taking note of the shortfall of power the state has been going through for the last few years, the Odisha government on Monday launched a new scheme to provide light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs to private consumers and commercial establishments to save power.

Inaugurating the UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All), a Centrally sponsored scheme,at a state level LED bulb distribution programme here, Energy minister Pranab Prakash Das said under the new scheme, each consumer in the state would be provided 10 LED bulbs of 9 watts at a cheaper price so that they would use them in their houses and save substantial amount of power. The government will also provide 20 LED bulbs to each commercial and trading establishment and required numbers to public institutions for this purpose, he added.

LED bulbs consume 90% less energy than ordinary bulbs and 50 percent lower energy than the CFL bulbs. The life of LED bulbs is four times the life of CFL and 25 times that of ordinary bulbs. The price of each LED bulb is Rs 85 with a three-year guarantee from the date of purchase.

Stating that there are about 60 lakh power consumers in the state, the minister said the Energy department has set a target to replace around six crore ordinary bulbs with LED bulbs.

“If six crore LED bulbs are used, the state can save about 300 MW in the peak hour consumption in the evening, which amounts to nearly Rs 300-Rs 350 crore. This will help the government to purchase high cost power during power shortfall in the state,” he said.

Notably, the state consumes about 4000 MW during peak evening hours every day.

Citing an instance, the Energy minister said the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has saved about 90 percent of power by using LED bulbs for streetlighting.

“We have decided to make the scheme mandatory for every government office and quarters in the next 2-3 months,” the minister said.

Talking about the distribution of LED bulbs, Engineer-in-Chief (Electrical), CESU, SS Pati said Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (ESSL) will be in charge of distribution of LED bulbs to the consumers.

“ESSL will open kiosks at each energy bill collection centre from where each consumers will purchase 10 LED bulbs at Rs 85 each by showing a copy of the bill payment receipt and their identity cards. Commercial and trading establishments can avail 20 LED bulbs while public institutions can avail the required number of LEDS bulbs by obtaining a certificate from the concerned distribution company (discom),” he added.